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2008 Election: Winners and Losers

Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States. John McCain will not, likely capping a long and well-decorated political career with a loss.

Democrats will expand their majorities in the House and the Senate. Republicans will be relegated to minority status in both chambers, forced to re-calculate what their party stands for and how they can draw a blueprint to return them to the majority in subsequent elections.

Those winners (and losers) are obvious. But who are some of the not-so-obvious victors and vanquished last night? The Fix's initial take is below. Feel free to offer your own thoughts in the comments sections below.

WINNERS

Steve Hildebrand/Paul Tewes and the Obama Field Staff: It's hard to find two more self-deprecating political operatives than Hildebrand and Tewes -- the duo who helped build and execute the massive ground operation that led Obama to victory in the primary season and to wins in closely contested general election states like Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Hildebrand and Tewes rightly pass off much of the credit to their various state directors and grassroots organizers who spent hundreds of man hours registering and then turning out voters. But, try as they might, neither Hildebrand nor Tewes can escape the limelight this time; the ground operation will be THE story of the post election analysis.

Bobby Jindal: As the electoral map turned against McCain tonight, there was one name on the lips of dispirited GOP strategists: Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana. Jindal, elected in 2007 on a reform platform, is almost certain to become one of the fresh young faces (he is 37 years old and Indian American) a Republican party that finds itself deep in the wilderness will turn to in the coming months. Will Jindal run for president? It's too early to tell but he almost certainly will be a major player if he does decide to get into the race in 2012.

Harold Ford Jr./Artur Davis: Ford, a former Tennessee congressman and 2006 Senate candidate, and Davis, an Alabama congressman, are weighing bids for governor in their respective states in 2010. Obama's victory -- the first by an African American in the country's history -- and his strong showing in states like Virginia and North Carolina could well make it easier for both Ford and Davis, both of whom are black, to overcome the traditional racial divides present in southern politics. Obama's win doesn't mean Ford or Davis will win but it does lessen the power of the argument that a black candidate can't be elected to certain offices in certain parts of the country.

John McCain's Concession Speech: It's no secret that the Arizona senator is not the best public speaker -- particularly before big crowds. But, McCain stepped up to the plate tonight in Arizona and delivered a masterpiece -- a gracious call for the country to unify behind Obama and a powerful affirmation of his belief in the grace and honor of public service. Stirring stuff that even those most hardened against McCain had to appreciate as a grand act by a man who has sacrificed much for the country.

Joe Biden: How many people can say they got elected vice president of the United States AND won a seventh term (!) in the Senate on the same night?

Susan Collins: In an election in which Republicans in the Northeast were nearly wiped off the map, Collins won a third Senate term in Maine with 60 percent of the vote. Collins -- as well as her team, most notably chief of staff/campaign manager Steve Abbott -- deserve a huge amount of credit for bucking a national Democratic wave.

David Plouffe: How many staffers get a shout-out in a presidential victory speech? Plouffe, who The Fix has known for more than a decade, more than deserved it. Never flashy and not one to run to the television cameras, Plouffe displayed an unwavering commitment to the plan he and the campaign's other senior strategists had built in the early days of the campaign. Plouffe cut his teeth in congressional races and tonight proved he was up to overseeing perhaps the best run presidential campaign in recent history.

Political Junkies: The victory by the Democratic ticket means there will be two Senate appointments -- in Illinois and Delaware -- to be made. And, rest assured, the positioning has already begun.

LOSERS

George W. Bush: It's clear this election was as much a referendum on the current inhabitant of the White House as it was on McCain or any other political figure. In the national exit poll, just one in four voters approved of the job Bush was doing. Among the 75 percent or so who disapproved of the job the president was doing, 52 percent did so strongly -- a testament to the depth of distaste toward Bush among not just Democratic base voters but also many independents and even some GOPers as well.

Bruce Lunsford: The Democratic candidate who ran against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell came close to pulling an upset but ultimately came up six percent short. That's Lunsford's third straight statewide loss (he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2003 and 2007) and likely ends his political career before it ever began.

Northeastern Republicans: Already an endangered species, northeastern Republicans in Congress are now on the verge of extinction following losses by Reps. Chris Shays (Conn.) and Randy Kuhl (N.Y.) as well as defeats in open GOP-held seats in New York's 13th and 25th districts. (One bright spot for Northeastern Republicans: Rep.-elect Chris Lee's win in the open 26th district of New York.) Just as the south moved solidly to Republicans during the early 1990s, the late 2000s have shown a consolidation of Democratic power in the northeast.

The Bradley Effect: All the talk that Obama's poll numbers were inflated as a result of the fact that voters did not feel comfortable telling pollsters they would not vote for him due to the color of his skin proved to be bunk. The polling in key states proved to be right on the money (yeah for pollsters!) and there was little evidence in exit polls that Obama's race played any sort of hidden factor in voters' decision-making process. For those who have been skeptical of the Bradley effect ever since it was theorized way back in 1982, tonight's results seemed to affirm their opinion.

Paul Kanjorski and Jack Murtha: Yes, we know both embattled Pennsylvania Democrats won their House reelection races tonight. But, by a series of self-inflicted wounds, the two longtime pols forced the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to spend considerable sums ensuring re-elections that should never have been in doubt. The next few days will undoubtedly reveal a Republican-held seat (or three) where the money spent on Murtha and Kanjorski might have been used to oust a GOP incumbent.

One of the “winners” mentioned here was John McCain’s concession speech—which certainly was impressive. It seems like now that the election is over, there are a whole lot of "coulda, woulda, shoulda"s going around. Those who are disappointed with the outcome have been replaying various scenarios in their minds, thinking if only McCain had done this or that, maybe the election would have ended differently. Others are saying if McCain had delivered speeches throughout the campaign at the same caliber as his concession speech, he could have swept the election. In the long run, these “if only”s are more of a waste of time, seeing as how the election results have already been decided.

Since the election has ended, various media outlets have been replaying the speeches by John McCain and Barak Obama over and over again. What is interesting is how flattering they are being to McCain, now that he has officially lost the race. Those in the media that have often been accused of being biased or attacking the candidates, are now paying compliments to McCain, describing his speech as sincere and classy and admitting that he graciously congratulated Obama while still maintaining his pride and dignity. Some of the media that has tended to lean toward the left throughout the election are now saying the nicest things about McCain, many calling it the best speech he has ever delivered throughout this whole process. Even a blogger on the DailyKos, who was celebrating Obama’s victory, labeled McCain’s speech the most beautiful concession speech he had ever heard. On NBC's "Today" show, reporters referred to McCain's speech as a "lovely moment," saying McCain really stepped it up in what will probably be the most remembered speech of his political career. So, after months of so-called “attacks” on the presidential candidates, have reporters finally gone soft? Or are they saying this only because Obama won, and McCain and the Republican Party are no longer a threat?

Shylibrarian - I have to take exception to your comments. I voted against Hillary during the primaries for several reasons even though there were strong reasons to support her.

Reasons I would have supported her - she is a Democrat, I prefer her stand on universal health care, she is politically smart and extremely intelligent. Why I voted against her - the Clinton years - I had a strong feeling the Repubs really wanted to run against her/Bill and drag out all that dirty laundry AGAIN! Plus (and even of greater importance to me) her unrepentant votes with GWB for war in Iraq and supporting the Patriot Act.

Sarah Palin is a political hack. If you look at her record in Alaska you will see where she is very George Bush in her way of leading the state. High school friends were appointed to positions they are completely unqualified to fill, she spent the budget surplus her predecessor in Wasila left behind and gifted her constituents there a deficit. She lied about the state jet, she lied about firing the cook (yep she fired the cook and rehired with a different title) she used a state employee as a personal baby sitter, she flew her children all over the country at the state's expense. That list goes on and on.

As a candidate - she lied, she lied she lied. She drew upon the worst instincts of the people who attended her hate rallies.

For you die hard Palin supporters -

SHE DID NOT WRITE THE BLINKIN' SPEECH SHE GAVE AT THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION!!!!! It was written by GW's speech writers. I didn't watch, but I heard she gave a great performance.
If I have to hear that nonsense from Republican operatives and the MSM one more time I will puke!!!

I don't know who to blame for her seeming inability on the campaign trail to even learn what the job of VP is = but how hard is it to get a copy of the Constitution?

I do not vote for someone because of their sex. I vote for their values and commitment to women and girls in America and around the world. Most Republican women running for office are from the far right and do not share my views as far as supporting education, privacy, health care and other issues facing families today.

Many times a Democrat male will share my views more closely and protect the rights of women more so than a Republican female candidate.

All Americans, because of the shame it brings all of us that states like California passed laws that prevent gay people from marrying each other.

I'm straight, but I think laws like that are disgusting and degrading to America.

Gay people have existed since the dawn of time and they find each other and do what they do in private.

Just like us straights, sometimes they fall in love.

To prevent someone from marrying the person they love, or to prevent them from being able to see them in the hospital or inherit with them or adopt children with them or do aything that married people do, just becaude they're gay is just as bad as preventing them from marrying based on religion or race, Its just as disgusting.

I'm very happy about Barack Obama being elected President, but I'm ashamed of my state for passing a discrimination law that will cause such pain to a group of our citizens that are just trying to live life like the rest of us.

I was surprised to see someone criticize people who voted split tickets, implying that they were "racist". 94% of people living in Washington D.C. voted for Obama; do you think race had anything to do with that? ...

Umm, no. DC's about 60% black. Gentrification has sharply reduced the percentage of blacks living in DC. But DC is overwhelmingly Democrat. Robert Byrd would have gotten over 90% of the vote in DC if he headed the ticket.

I think history will be far more critical of George Bush than we are being now. The damage we see is the tip of the iceberg. Remember that Bush and Cheney do most of what they do in Secret, and that Cheney has a man sized safe. Assuming that they're not gay lovers, there's got to be a lot of stuff that they've done that they still don't want any of us to know about.

History will judge George Bush not only the worst President of the United States of America but to be completely in a class of his own.

George Bush stole the Presidency, he stole the middle class's money, and he stole our honor and the lives of our servicemen and women who died for oil and ego.

bush is also a loser in this. No one to carry forward his legacy. Now with responsible leadership bookending his presidency he will definitley be challenging buchanna for dead last in the pantheon of terrible presidents. Clinton handed him a thirving democracy and a thriving economy unmatched and unchallenged. Obama will return that former status. So that will prove bush to be the biggest loser of them all. I only hope PRESIDENT Obama will allow the DoJ under legitimate leadership for the first time in nearly a decade to do it's work in pursuing cheney, rumsfled, gonzo, rove, card, miers, and of course bush himself.

We all win. The world wins. It is a proud day for America. McCain also proved himself to be a real American hero in his defeat.

palin loses. Won't miss that smirking face girnnin' at the camera and lying like a cheap rug- you betcha...

The big losers are going to be the fox news/talk radio folks who get proven to their audience, the sentient part of their audience, to be crass liars. When PRESIDENT Obama does not destroy the nation or institute communism what will they think? When PRESIDENT Obama starts to heal the woulnds, repair the damage, from 8 disasterous years of conservative republicon rule will those folks believe their own eyes or will they continue to listen to the people who have lied to them for so long?

Proud to be an American today. The election coverage on the news last night, flash the incumbent Republican pictures across the screen, All were old white males, except for Elizabeth Dole. All were centrist, moderates, and mavericks. Just about all were wipe out. 30% of the registered Republicans voters did not vote. The Conservatives will take back are party from the compromising, let's get along crowd, of Bush, McCain, and all the other losers.

Add Nate Silver of 538.com to the list of winners. While RCP was skittish about endorsing their own data, Silver's complex model for polling analysis proved to be dead on. He'll be the new benchmark in the next cycle.

Jindal in 2012? Are you kidding? The Republicans are not nearly that smart. Sarah Palin will have Joe the Plumber, that crazy old lady with the bad hair (Obama is a Muslim), and the rest of the evangelical wackos in a tizzy in no time. Sorry, no way that party will nominate an Asian man as their candidate. Not the Know Nothings.

WINNER - HOWARD DEAN! The immeasurable contribution of DNC Chairman,Democracy for America founder, former Vermont Governor and 2003 primary phenom, Dr. Howard Dean can't be overstated. Howard Dean put the momentum in motion and his fifty state strategy set the stage for the triumph the United States celebrates this morning. Dean prevailed in this despite pernicious and persistent push back from the entrenched power interests in his own party.

DITTO…BIG TIME WIINNERS: HILDEBRAND/TEWES!!!
45+ years of interest in the mechanics of politics, NEVER EVER have I seen a GOTV effort of such scope and magnitude.
As an example, after numerous phone bank calls for our son who now lives in NY, yesterday afternoon on election day, our doorbell rang and there stands a sopping wet young fellow, an Obama volunteer, who asked if our son needed a ride to the polls.
Absolutely astounding……going the extra mile in Virginia, where every vote really mattered, an effort only a community organizer could appreciate and understand.
So, ponder that, Mrs. Alaska! Outspent, outgunned and overrun…ain't life fun?

"I agree that all the most sexist woman-bashing techniques were really popularized and mainstreamed this year. Like you don't actually jeer at a female candidate for being a woman, you just jeer at features of hers that are stereotypically female, like focusing on her dress and/or clothing. Or characterize her as stupid (if they are style candidates) or castraters-of-men (if they are substance candidates)."

I THINK THAT SHYLIBRARIAN IS REALLY MISSING SOMETHING. CLINTON WHINED THAT THE GUYS WEREN'T TREATING HER FAIRLY AND THEN BROUGHT UP WHITE PEOPLE AS HER BASE. SHE'S A SHAMEFUL POLITICIAN WHO SHOULD BE RETIRED. PALIN GET PCKED WHE SHE WAS NOT OUT OF THE CRADLE POLITICALLY AND WAS SO STUPID AS TO NOT DO HER HOMEWORK. NO SYMPATHY HERE FROM A WOMAN WHO HAS MADE IT OWN HER OWN THANK YOU..!!!

I'm glad the writer mentioned Murtha as one of the Losers. This guy is such a gigantic scumbag he is an embarassment to the party. Why isn't he in jail? Who votes for this guy? Satan himself would be more ethical. But sadly, we're doomed to yet another few years of this guy giving huge contracts to his family and bilking the American people out of $$.

leaving out the loser al franken just shows how partison you and wapo really are.
Republicans in the senate are the only ones standing between you and giving up your wealth...
you should be grateful...

Winner: The hordes of volunteers and staffers blanketing the country. This was truly an election of the people and we saw millions of people place a personal stake in getting Obama elected and showing us that millions of people hungry for change really can make a difference.

I think the biggest losers were women politicians. Both Hillary and Sarah were mocked savagely throughout their campaigns. My little girl put it best this morning when she said to me, "Anyone can be president, unless you're a girl."

Posted by: Shylibrarian57 | November 5, 2008 1:24 PM

I agree that all the most sexist woman-bashing techniques were really popularized and mainstreamed this year. Like you don't actually jeer at a female candidate for being a woman, you just jeer at features of hers that are stereotypically female, like focusing on her dress and/or clothing. Or characterize her as stupid (if they are style candidates) or castraters-of-men (if they are substance candidates).

******************************
The real losers: posters like Aspergirl who never look beyond Clinton and Palin...

Among the Emily's List-tastic victories for moderate/progressive women in Congress:

Mc Cain's concession speech was vintage MC Cain- do whatever is perceived to be in the best interest of John McCain. It would appear that the media never heard about "fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me". Micky Edwards (former Republican Congressman from OK) said today about McCain "I don't know who he is".

LOSER (pending final outcome): Anchorage mayor Mark Begich, once leading (very)senior Senator and seven times convicted felon Ted Stevens by 15%, now losing 47% to 48% with 99% of precincts reporting.

WINNER: NC Senator-elect Kay Hagan, who was able to knock off Elizabeth Dole in a heavily red state and bring to an end, for now at least, the 50+ year tradition of a either a Bush or a Dole on a winning Republican ticket.

Shylibrarian57 wrote:
"I think the biggest losers were women politicians. Both Hillary and Sarah were mocked savagely throughout their campaigns. My little girl put it best this morning when she said to me, 'Anyone can be president, unless you're a girl.'"

I think you're wrong. I think this election changed our expectations for what kind of candidates have a chance. To paraphrase something I heard on the radio this morning, we may never again have an election where you have to pick between two sets of old white men.

Hillary Clinton got mocked because she ran a terrible campaign. When the campaign started, it was her race to lose and she managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, running at first as though it was a foregone conclusion that she'd be the nominee as soon as these pesky primaries were out of the way. By the time she realized there were other candidates running, it was too late.

Sarah Palin got mocked because, well, she's Sarah Palin. You could have had *anybody* up there acting like her and they would have gotten mocked.

We *will* have a female President some day and I think it will be sooner than you or you daughter might think, so tell her not to worry.

Another loser was Hillary Clinton who ran a racist, sexlike ist campaign and still lost. There are many of us in NYS who would her to lose here in her next run for office. She's a phony who has done little or nothing for NYS (just ask the people in Upstate New York...). The only things she is good at are press releases and photo ops!!!!

"LOSER: The "Fairness Doctrine". If 24-hour Hate-Talk radio gets the Republicans slaughtered like this, why would Democrats ever want to bottle that up? Let Hannity and Limbaugh spout their nonsense....sensible Americans are rejecting that trash at the ballot box."

YES, EXACTLY!!!

I think the Democrats should absolutely leave the Fairness Doctrine off the table. Obama was bashed non-stop for nearly a full year. What happened? Well, hearing the ugly side of the right-wing helped mobilize Democrats and Independents to make sure Obama won.

Talk radio should really learn one of the most important lessons of campaigns. It is VERY DIFFICULT to win if you don't give voters a reason to want to vote for you. The talk show hosts spent all their time bashing Obama (and preaching to their choir) and none of why McCain was worth a vote. I'm sorry, but there are former POWs in my neighborhood as well. I respet McCain's service, but that experience alone doesn't mean someone should be President.

For the record, I am a HUGE Obama supporter...I volunteered with the campaign, donated money and got my family and friends interested...But, we should not act as though all barriers to access have been removed...Structural barriers to an adequate education, well paying jobs, a stable home life, etc. remain. So people, please stop acting as though only black teenagers have problems in school...There are PLENTY of dysfunctional white teenagers who are no doing well, using drugs and having sex. What is their excuse? Until last night, all 43 prior presidents have been white....

Additional losers:
Guilt by association as a political tactic.
Baseless accusations in TV ads.
Racism and race baiting.
Sarah Palin's popularity in Alaska.
John McCain's long-term reputation.
Opponents to teaching Civics in public schools.

Another big loser, the same as four years ago: well-intentioned GLBTs whose rights are even further legislated away, now in a harbinger of cultural trends like California. This is a truly bittersweet election, and I feel sorry for those millions of people who otherwise could build worthy families. How a referendum such as Proposition 8 could be seen as anything other than discrimination and hate proves nothing more than a smokescreen, allowing for so many people's prejudice to manifest without their being paraded in front of everyone for the world to see and take note individually. Looks like the "Bradley Effect" should now be turned toward GLBTs. Perhaps we are the final frontier in the civil rights movement, but our road is longer and quieter and, as of now, remains painful. Congratulations on democracy.

"Absolutely agree regarding McCain's concession speech. Had the McCain who stood by his Country First slogan in his concession speech been the McCain on the campaign trail, last night's historic outcome may have been quite different.
Posted by: exco"

While there was probably nothing ANY Republican could have done to produce a better outcome, given that this election was every bit as much about George Bush as 2000 was about Bill Clinton, and there wasn't really very much bad about Clinton for the Republicans to use against Al Gore, but HAD McCain accepted the inevitable and run a high oned, no Rovian tactics (which are really rehashes of Nixoian dynamics) he might have ACCOMPLISHED more in noble defeat than he ever might in a scurrilous victory.

It is probably a case of John has just plain gotten old and no longer had the stuffing needed to insist on such a noble cause. He went through the motions, and mostly looked like he WAS going through the motions.

But, IF a frog had wings..., and this one is now an election to scan for lessons in future campaigning. (For instance, was Hillary an architect of the results in North Carolina and Georgia, where Barack put organizations to compete against Hillary and thereby was ready to respond when it became apparent that those states copuld be put in play?)

How well did Barack do in bringing out new and disaffected voters? Can his internet savvy campaign be used by just about any campaigner, or is it a true nerd thing? (Barack is certainly a Revenge of the Nerds candidate.)

Will there be an end to the Republican's eternal campaign, or will they carry this campaign on throughout the next eight years?

Will my spell checker, or the WAPO's, whichever is checking these posts EVER accept Barack Obama as a valid entry, or is his name fated to be listed out there with such leaders as Nabonidus and Tiglath Pillessar and al Mansur?

"There is definitely an audience for conservatism in the United States...particularly on economic issues."

I think this paradigm of smaller government is changing. People don't necessarily want smaller government. They want a more effective government. Outsourcing airline regulation to the airlines themselves shrinks the government, but also compromises the safety of flight. Yes, government does a lot that is wasteful, but there are things that the government needs to do. Obama seems to understand this well when he says that government can't do everything, but there are some things that it should be doing.

SHE WINS because she greatly raised her national profile and earned a dedicated following with the base of the GOP

SHE LOSES because she comes away from this being seen as a divisive political figure more known for her gaffes, her outlandish cultural pandering, and her personality quirks rather than for any substantive things she may have added to the ticket.

If she runs in 2012, she may have strong name ID, but her opponents will have plenty of ammo to go after her with.

I believe everyone was a Winner & will benefit whether they know it or not. Of course they may pay more taxes, but they'll get more for them, etc. Only one thing bothered me about Obama's speech, the line that sounded like a euphemistic paraphrase of Bush's "You're with us or against us." I.e., "we'll defeat you." Sounds a bit like "Bring 'em on!" Bush never spent an hour in diplomacy (in the Dan Rather interview on verge of Shock & Awe Saddam Hussein begged Bush to debate him about the WMDs, etc., but Bush-Cheney wouldn't talk to the designated devil.) I'm not denying Saddam's crimes against humanity, don't get me wrong-- but have the losses since (& Bush's crimes against humanity) been worth it? Diplomacy is still a far stronger card than bombs no matter where (e.g., Afghanistan Now!) The Bush Legacy will include a lot of lingering toxcity, but as has been often proved, Tough Talk is often of dubious value, or merely inflammatory. Bush, like those who stick hot pokers into wasp colonies, has inspired a lot of fresh terrorists.
David Ray, Tucson, AZ

Absolutely agree regarding McCain's concession speech. Had the McCain who stood by his Country First slogan in his concession speech been the McCain on the campaign trail, last night's historic outcome may have been quite different.

The Biggest loseer has to be the state of Alaska! What kind of back woods place re-elects a guy who was CONVICTED of 7 felonies? AK started out like a train wreck because Palin looked to inept, but Ted Stevens is a whole new level of drinking the coolaid.

I would caution people against treating Sarah Palin like the cause of McCain's defeat. The real cause of that was McCain's decision to abandon the independence and middle ground which had given him his reputations and instead to actively court the Republican right. Sarah Palin was just a symptom of that. In the end, the conservative John McCain lost votes that a moderate John McCain could easily have won. However, as a moderate John McCain probably could never have won the Republican nomination.

The winners and losers can be summed up in the juxtapostion of the two campaign celebrations.
One at a posh resort where bluebloods sipped champagne underneath palm trees.
The other at a public park in a major city, where 125,000 came together on a cold night.
The Democrats are the elitists? Really?
Winner:
The idea that we are all real Americans.
Loser:
Division, partisanship, the culture warriors.

It's easy in modern society to live in a bubble, associating with only people like us, who think the same way we do, who reinforce our self-conception as a member of a select group of Americans more real or true than others. We even have radio and TV (Fox) that allow us to beam in only like-minded opinions into our lives. The election, the crowds in the streets celebrating in the streets are the only thing that can burst these bubbles, not to tell us that we aren't real Americans, but that we are one of many communities in the patchwork of lives that make up our country.

nuke41, you're correct. But Rep. Jack Murtha got into a world of hurt for saying the Emperor has no clothes, i.e., that racism exists in his part of Pennsylvania. Such candor nearly cost him which should have been sure reelection.

His work is just beginning, and it's going to be really tough for him to be successful at solving the historic, unprecedented economic, energy and business problems we face as a country. On top of that there is the rapidly-worsening health care affordability problem and housing, etc.

This election is only the start. Anyone really serious about supporting his presidency should prepare to really pitch in now, not pack up, because the problems that have to be solved are the kind that need new, unprecedented solutions and a lot of intelligent compromises to do the best things possible.

Unless they want him to come up for reelection as a failed president in 4 years, Obama supporters should prepare to stay engaged, informed and ready to turn activist, to support his efforts in this difficult time.

Shylibrarian57 wrote: "I think the biggest losers were women politicians. Both Hillary and Sarah were mocked savagely throughout their campaigns. My little girl put it best this morning when she said to me, "Anyone can be president, unless you're a girl."

Not true. A woman can and will be elected president, but whoever she is, she'll have to run a better campaign than her opponent (Hillary Clinton didn't) and be qualified (Sarah Palin wasn't, and people saw through her ignorance, cultrual bigotry, and irrelevant and mostly untruthful, though endlessly repeated, attacks.) A well qualified woman who ran a campaign as good as Obama's would have been elected this year. The fact than none did does not mean that none can.

Personally, I think Palin was a winner: She now is free to pursue her own national political career instead of being bound to a McCain administration that likely would be more moderate than she would care for. For the conservative Republican base, she comes out of this as a formidable advocate for their viewpoint who is not to be blamed for the failings of the McCain campaign.

OTOH, I would say that right-wing Republican conservatism and its take-no-prisoners partisanship were big losers. Even John McCain gave the latter a kick in the teeth with his concession speech, and the former was not served by that speech either. More importantly, the gains in Congress speak of an electorate that is tired of both.

Beyond that, if Palin is a winner then the Republican hopes for '12 are a loser: Assuming the Barack Obama does reasonably well in his first term, an Obama-Palin race is likely to be bloodbath for the Republicans. This country is tired of the Republican right and will be loathe to give it power again, or at least to give it power again that soon.

The time to determine the Winners & Losers is not right now, but four years from now when Obama & company have had some time to learn and lead. The winners and losers will be the American people. Will we be better off than 4 years earlier? If not better, maybe there will be a wholesale repudiation of the Democratic Party because there will be no excuse to blame the Republicans. George W. Bush would have been a luckier president if 9-11-2001 had not brought terrorists to our country. How will Obama act if there are more terrorist attacks? We may be in a bigger war....

"I think the biggest losers were women politicians. Both Hillary and Sarah were mocked savagely throughout their campaigns. My little girl put it best this morning when she said to me, "Anyone can be president, unless you're a girl."

Posted by: Shylibrarian57 | November 5, 2008 1:24 PM

I agree that all the most sexist woman-bashing techniques were really popularized and mainstreamed this year. Like you don't actually jeer at a female candidate for being a woman, you just jeer at features of hers that are stereotypically female, like focusing on her dress and/or clothing. Or characterize her as stupid (if they are style candidates) or castraters-of-men (if they are substance candidates).

Just look at all the Palin-hater rants on this page. If the hatred of Palin (or HIllary Clinton) was all about their political positions and records, any emotional connection to the oppositional framing of their candidacy would fade after they were defeated. Like who is still going around spewing contempt about Mitt Romney or Chris Dodd? What is so bizarre about the woman-haters is that they don't recognize their own misogyny for what it is, believing that the fact that they accept some women, those who conform to their expectations of women, means that they aren't sexist.

I'm tired of hear "traditional racial divides present in southern politics". Having lived in the South and the North its clear to me the North has much more of a race problem than the South does. The South is not without race problems, but they have faced their demons much more than the North has.

Loser – Tax Payers. – The definition of “rich” will trickle down to most anyone with income to confiscate.

Winner – Sarah Palin – She held up a ticket fronted by a man fluctuating in the “middle” that appealed to neither the right nor left. She will be great demand for speeches except on tolerant, free speech college campuses. When so many people hate you, you know you are doing something right.

some of the biggest losers: people who still take limbaugh and hannity seriously. the amount of spin, misinformation, wishful thinking, ouright lies and poor analysis that occurred JUST THIS PAST WEEK was enough to kill an elephant. perhaps a whole herd of them. as long as republicans continue to look to these guys for direction, they will be wandering the desert for DECADES.

“I doubt you've had enough sleep to think your post all the way through. Carter is hardly insignificant”

True. Carter is the prototype for BO. Carter helped the rise of the theocracy of Iran that will haunt BO’s presidency. And BO's economy should produce Carter-like results. It is nice of Carter to build houses and Bill C has time to give a helping hand in his retirement.

Cindy McCain: She never wanted to be in DC anyway
Levi Johnston: The shotgun has been unloaded
Hawaii: People now know it's a state, not a foreign county. Don't they?
Oprah: She still rules.
Cities: Sarah Palin and John McCain may hate New York, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco, but they are the "real" America
State Department - diplomacy and international relations matter now
Basketball: We have a new Hoopster-in-Chief
Community Organizers: A hot new breeding ground for getting executive experience

LOSERS

Sarah Palin: Flew too close to the sun. Read your Greek mythology.
Elizabeth Hasselbeck: Stupid is as stupid does
Joe the Plumber: Get a license and shut up. 15 minutes are over.
Security contractors in Iraq: The gravy train is ending. Time to come home.
Bowling: What did Barack shoot 37? Goodbye to White House bowling lanes?
Joe Lieberman: Resign from Dem caucus or be fired! Tomorrow.

As a loser -- how about the Bush family legacy, and especially the future prospects of Jeb Bush?

He was supposed to be the heir to his father's position within the Republican Party. I just don't see how, after this clear repudiation of George W., the Republican Party trusts another one ("third time's a charm"?). Even if they did, I do not see the rest of the nation smiling kindly upon him.

The real losers last night were concerned citizens who thought they could get meaningful elections results from television. ABC showed only tallies of votes, not the percentage of precincts reporting. How can you assess how an election is going if you don't know how many votes still remain to be counted? popculturecurmudgeon.blogspot.com

Loser: Sarah Palin, who dragged down the GOP ticket by catering to the extremist, bigoted remnants of the once great party. Palin claiming that Obama "palled around with terrorists" will go down as one of the stupidest remarks in a campaign full of historic foolishness. If the Republicans want to continue down the road to permanent minority status, they should nominate Palin in 2012.

Loser: John McCain, whose disasterous judgment in selecting the wildly unqualified Palin as his running mate sealed his doom. He has no one but himself to blame for the foolish decision to swerve to his hard right rather than appeal to moderate Republicans and centrists Democrats. What a maroon.

Loser: Joe the Plumber, whose undeserved 15 minutes of "fame" are definitely over. Will anyone really want to buy an album of this dork's music?

Winner: David Axelrod, the mastermind of the most successful political campaign in American history.

Winner: Southern Democrats who have re-emerged as a powerful and growing force in regional politics. Will any Republican dare to run in a Southern state without taking into account the issues and interests that appeal to Hispanic, African American and young voters?

Winner: Barack Obama, the gentle genius with a powerful intellect, a tremendous soul, and the steady heart of a fighter.

You are so correct. But, I agree for different reasons. Rush, Hannity, Beck, and O'Reilly -- the big four -- are all winners because their ratings are going to skyrocket from all the listeners who will tune in each day to hear the words/message of their "Messiahs." That's why Hannity, Rush, Beck, and O'Reilly received new deals recently. The people that broker these deals knew McCain was going to lose, and now they ALL are going to sit back and watch the greenbacks come rolling in. (Be sure to purchase all the products your "Messiahs" will be pushing.)

Disadvantaged teenagers: if Obama can be elected President, your excuses were just exposed for what they are.

Winners:

Howard Dean. His 50 state strategy was vindicated, again. His pioneering use of the Internet and faith in the educated young. A look at the NC exit polls shows that it was the youth vote, and pretty much them alone, who appear to have turned one of the two truly red states blue.

GOTV operations.

Mountain West Democrats

Intellectuals: they can win the Presidency (is that really a good thing, winning the Presidency I mean?)

I think the biggest losers were women politicians. Both Hillary and Sarah were mocked savagely throughout their campaigns. My little girl put it best this morning when she said to me, "Anyone can be president, unless you're a girl."

Those GOP strategists pushing Bobby Jindal might want to check in with Joe the Plumber. The rightwing message boards aren't feeling a lot of love for Gov. Jindal this morning. I've seen a lot of comments that seem to imply that the base is on diversity overload. I think the correct psychological term is displacement or perhaps deflection.

A big winner will be Rush Limbaugh. While the rest of talk radio is as shrill as the lapdogs at MSNBC and the left, Rush's commentary is often insightful He is dumped on by the left, who have probably never listened to him, while the deranged are excited about Hannity and Savage, et al. Rush will have two whipping posts to work on now, with the Democrats having Congress and the White House. Instead of obstructing government, the Dems will have to govern now, and Rush will be there to flog them every step of the way. He's got it made. When they fail, and surely they will, the Repubs will pick up seats in 2010 and beyond. I haven't been able to listen to Rush for quite some time, because he didn't have much to talk about. His cup will now runneth over, cause you know the Dems will not be able to contain themselves. They will do some pretty stupid things early, some of it really stupid because it will be more appearances than substantive. Rush will kill them.

And Obama has set the bar so high, he will have to be nearly flawless to get elected again. I suspect the MSM will try to prop up their candidate for a while, but that won't last. If you liked this election, wait until 2012 when some Dems may have to challenge Obama. We will have 1980 all over again, perhaps Hillary in the role of Teddy, if the media will let her. Get the cash machine ready Terry McAuliffe!

Losers: People who keep propounding absurd and undocumented conspiracy theories, in hopes of arousing primal fears in the electorate or messing up the gears of the electoral system (including, but not limited to, nuisance lawsuits). No matter how many times you keep repeating your theories, we still see through you, and won't fall for it. So take the hint, Dorkchester.

I was surprised to see someone criticize people who voted split tickets, implying that they were "racist". 94% of people living in Washington D.C. voted for Obama; do you think race had anything to do with that? People who are intelligent don't necessarily have to vote party line all the
time. They have the right to vote for whoever they like.

As an independent, it always amazes me how
much vitriol is spewed in comment lists. Both candidates were gracious in their victory/concession speeches, and are to be
commended. Whatever nastiness came from
the republican campaign about Obama's alleged associations is balanced by the
incredible nastiness that Palin had to endure. I didn't see republicans hanging
Obama in effigy...In any case, any woman
who rises to become a governor of a state
must have something going for her, although
I didn't see any innate greatness in her.

The country is going to go in a more liberal direction, and that is natural as
it is part of a common cycle (Reagan-Bush I-Clinton-Bush II-Obama). If it doesn't work out, it might turn back around in
another eight years. We have to back the
current president-elect, and give him a shot at turning things around, no matter what your leanings. The majority has spoken.

I think the media played up the Bradley effect to enhance the drama and increase circulation. Pollsters--professional statisticians--are not idiots, and scrupulously weight results to account for biases. It was never measured as being close, and indeed it wasn't.

Biggest Losers how about the Clintons.. Hillary will now never be President and Bill will become like Jimmy Carter... insignificant.. Also losers try Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.. hard to argue how racist this country is when we just elected a Black man...

Posted by: sovine08 | November 5, 2008 10:52 AM |

I doubt you've had enough sleep to think your post all the way through. Carter is hardly insignificant - he's been an enormous force in the world for democracy and health and he was awarded the Nobel for his work. Bill has more than enough clout internationally to continue Carter's work.

Hillary may have to be content with merely being a US Senator from a hugely powerful state. Or she may have the chance to mull over a offer to sit on the Supreme Court when Ginsburg or Kennedy retires.

And I doubt that Jackson or Sharpton would trade the election results for the chance to talk about racism one more time. Not that they will have to choose between the two - we took a giant step last night, but i doubt that racism has been wiped out forever.

I'd say that racism is both a winner and a loser in this election. Obviously, a majority of the electorate could see past skin color to assess the candidates on their own merits. Alas, maps like the one the Post ran today, showing counties that Mark Warner carried but voted for John McCain, leaves me uneasy about how far we still need to go to ensure equal rights for men and women of all colors and creeds.

Posted by: OneSockOn | November 5, 2008 11:28 AM

I think it is possible to split your ticket without being a racist...but probably not without being called one.

I did not remember if I voted for Warner for Governor, but he cleaned up the financial mess that was left for him by Jim Gilmore. Further I have found Gilmore to be less than upfront is his dealings when he was attorney general. Given that we as a nation face a financial crisis (understatement) it makes a choice between a lawyer of dubious charactor and a businessman with a proven track record obvious.

As for McCain and Obama, I read both of thier books and looked into their background. I decided that neither one really stands politically for what I believe. I did deduce that both are good men, but I find that I simply could not vote for many of the things that President-elect Obama wants to accomplish. Oddly enough none of the things I looked at had anything to do with skin color, religous background or lineage. I think to make a decision based on other than a persons qualifications and stand on issues that concern me are un-American and belittle me as an individual and us as a country.

Having said that, if the fact that I split my ticket means I'm potentially a racist in your mind so be it. I think that says more about yoor thinking than mine.

Hillary Clinton will not necessarily emerge a loser out of this, even though she didn't attain the Presidency. She can certainly become a lion, er, lioness of the Senate, and/or perhaps be named to the Supreme Court.

Joe Lieberman, winner or loser? He would have been toast if the Dems had scored 60 in the Senate, for the Republican convention speech. As 60 for cloture is not going to happen I wonder where his place will be?

Hillary can't run again until she is nearly 70 years old. Obama will purge the Dems of any of her and Bill's loyalists. Am sure Barry sees it as HIS party now - no room for serious competitors within the ranks, either past or future.

I'd say that racism is both a winner and a loser in this election. Obviously, a majority of the electorate could see past skin color to assess the candidates on their own merits. Alas, maps like the one the Post ran today, showing counties that Mark Warner carried but voted for John McCain, leaves me uneasy about how far we still need to go to ensure equal rights for men and women of all colors and creeds.
___________________________________________

In response to this point I would say that the counties that Mark Warner and McCain carried were likely already strong McCain counties and they split the ticket to vote for an immensely popular former governor.

I could see the above arguement if these were conservative Democrat counties that voted for McCain. Race could definately be a factor in a situation like that, but I imagine the former situation is more likely.

Another big winner - Nate Silver and Sean Quinn from 538! Nate had the Senate numbers, popular vote, Electoral Vote (save for Indiana) exactly right. Sean had some of the best reporting on the ground game of anyone out there!

From controlling all the lever's of government to only one in four years. A plummet worthy of the Bush name. I wonder if any wisdom or humility was acquired during the trip?

Go figure out what contributions you can make to society - I'll welcome you (and your new ideas) back.

American's (including myself) closed ranks behind Bush, now is the time to close ranks behind Obama. Bush asked me to contribute to the nation by going shopping. Given the results of that - I think Obama is going to expect a little bit more from us.

svreader's post reminds me of another (hopefully big) loser: the attack politics of Rove, Atwater, and Clinton. As was written in another article, "McCain was nothing compared to Hillary Clinton in the primaries." Al Gore was the first to drag out Willie Horton, and he never won. Hillary Clinton threw out the Rev. Wright slander, when even John McCain would not stoop to that level. And Ronald Reagan won two terms without demonizing his opponent. You CAN run with class, from the left or the right, if you choose to: you just have to have the backbone to do so. Both McCain and Clinton might have won if they'd concentrated on putting forth THEIR positive qualities, instead of focusing on raising doubts about Obama.

The ad Liddy Dole ran was the nadir of attack politics (calling a Sunday school teacher "Godless"?) and it was soundly repudiated. Hopefully this will be a lesson going forward. People really do want a reason to vote FOR someone, not reasons why they should be afraid or hateful; Obama consistently offered reasons why people should vote for him, poor McCain never did (and Clinton stopped trying). If YOU can't make a case why we should vote for you, why do think we will?

Another big loser is hubris: "he's just not ready"? You may think so, but the prople thought differently. Mitt Romney's ad made the case for HRC's actual inexperience much more tellingly than any argument HRC put forth against Obama.

And "triangulation" has hit the dustbin. Obama is an unabashed liberal -- a Democrat from the Democratic wing. He ran true to himself and his ideology, and he won. Reagan was the same way. There is no reason for Dems to run away from their party's principles. Obama's proven they don't have to, and can still win.

bondjedi - His posts have been timely, provocative, insightful, and enlightening. He was uncowed by the spammers and sock puppets that sought to throw him from his game, and demonstrated that he was a force to be reckoned with in the Fix-ocracy.

Joe Biden - Redemption after all these years. Yo uheard it here first - if Obama/Biden are re-elected in 2012, Joe will likely be too old to run for Prez in his own right. 2016 may turn out to be a 2008 free-for-all, redux.

YouTube - From the Snowman Debates to viral videos of hate-speech at Palin rallies, YT surpassed the networks.

Losers:

PUMAs - Net effect of these losers: turning a 6.1 point Obama margin of victory in to a 6.0999999 one. Prepare to be kicked to the curb, chumps.

Bill Kristol - The man behind a Dan Quayle presidency tried to foist Sarah Palin on the world. Do not let this man into the same room as Kato Kaelin.

Biggest losers how about supporters of affirmative action. First amendments to end it were successful in Nebraska and looks like Colorado. Second with the election of a Black President how can anyone still claim our country is so racist that we still need it anymore?

Chris, I think you missed some of the biggest losers of all in this election. Law abiding, tax paying, loving and committed gay and lesbian couples and their families in Florida, Arkansas, Arizona and California. As of last night they have been ruled CONSTITUTIONALLY "Other" and "Second class" in these states. In California they have been designated to be less worthy of rights than farm animals.

I would add to this list of losers: gay children who have yet to discover their homo/bi sexual orientation; children, adolescents, teenagers and adults who struggling to come to grips with their sexual orientation and adults who are struggling to accept themselves and take their first steps out of the closet into their true identity. All of these people have just been told by their friends, family and neighbors that they are dispised, hated and unwanted, EVEN in California.

This is one of those strange days where there is great joy tempered with great sadness for our country.

I long for the day when we FINALLY learn, once and for all, that EVERYONE is equal and NO ONE who plays by the rules should be excluded from the FULL American promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When we will ever grow up and stop looking for the next boogey man to bully, harrass, hate, exclude and target for discrimination.

I think you have to include CNN among the losers. They were my default choice at the beginning of the evening, but the silly hologram and the distracting pinball sounds caused me to switch to the broadcast networks. Their presentation might have worked on the Cartoon Network, but not on a news channel.

Yes, to quote Bush, "Americans can finally be proud," as this time around we did not vote in a total dullard and criminal like Bush. Bush and Republicans in general are too dull even to understand that this is a resounding repudiation of the Bush/Republican governance. Their so-called ideals have been totally descredited.

I want to add to my earlier thoughts on the Old Fight. What will Keith Olbermann do now? In the Dark Days of Bush and Cheney and Rove and Rumsfeld and Lott and Frist and DeLay and FoxNews and FoxNews and FoxNews, I needed Olbermann. I used to watch him and say, "Really? They let him say these things on the air? I thought the network corporations were scared of the Right Wing!"

I was happy that a leftist perspective could be break through and be heard in our suffocating rightist environment. To me, Olbermann and Air America were calling out the Bushies and their Republican Congress for their hypocrisy, their disdain for the Constitution, and their overall un-Americanness. (This is also why I supported Howard Dean in 2003. He had the guts to speak out during a Right Wing Storm.)

But now, Olbermann needs to grow into something more objective. He needs to learn from Rachel Maddow.

I don't wanna be all pollyanna, here. Never doubt that there are other factions within America (a second surge of the NeoCons? a hating group from the left?) who will plot to capture and control this country.

But right now Obama appears to be doing what I used to dream someone could do: Be the president for all Americans.

Chris,
Bobby Jindal looks like a logical prospect by those on the outside looking in...but not necessarily considered a good prospect by the base. Maybe you haven't noticed, but the GOP has been hijacked by mid-western and southern Evangelical fanatics with a few narrow mindset. Further, the ethnically homogeneous party (98% white) has a long and rich tradition of racism. Their intolerance is further hindered by low education; politicians like Palin easily manipulate these people by stirring hate and distrust of non-Christians, the well educated, and "outsiders."

Jindal does not match the GOP demographic profile. Jindal, a former Hindu, is Catholic. The GOP base is evangelical Pentecostal and Southern Baptist. Jindal is Eastern Indian, the GOP base is white. Jindal is an Ivy League graduate and Rhodes Scholar; the GOP base is comprised of high school graduates.

Jindal's success in Louisiana had more to do with failed Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts than party affiliation. Jindal rode the wave of anger over perceived government corruption and incompetence post Katrina--anger so intense and widespread that his predecessor, Kathleen Blanco, decided against a re-election bid.

Jandal is hardly the darling of the GOP in his state. During his gubernatorial campaign, Jandal pledged to block legislative pay raises. He then backed off that promise when the legislators voted to increase their pay. Subsequently, citizens immediately began a recall drive against Jandal and five members of the legislature. A few days later, Jandal announced a change of heart and vetoed the legislative pay raise. Clearly, GOP support of Jandal is tentative at best. Jandal was voted into office on the promise of government reform; the slightest deviation from his promise of government reform and he's finished. Jandal does not enjoy unequivocal support and overwhelming popularity among the base.

Indeed, give the GOP base a choice between Palin and Jandal and few will rally behind the brown skinned Hindu-Catholic, ivy league intellectual elitists.

Chris, I just don't understand the praise of McCain's speech. It was the same tired old rhetoric we've heard from him all year, but worse, when his supporters booed Obama, he should have intervened forcefully. He should have said, "He's our next President and you dishonor your country when you boo him." He didn't, and that's disgraceful.

I think one of the biggest losers is FOX News!!! Despite all their efforts to tear up Obama, they couldn't get the effect they wanted. I have to recognize they gave me good moments, specially the laughs when listening them saying they are the most independent News media on the US!!!

Don't get too giddy yet about Supreme Court appointments. All the hard-nosed conservatives are relatively young and the four liberal members are relatively old. So, unless there is an act of God or an unexpected resignation, the only members Obama may be replacing in his first term are the good guys with other good guys. You never know of course but this seems to be the way it looks right now.

I'd say that racism is both a winner and a loser in this election. Obviously, a majority of the electorate could see past skin color to assess the candidates on their own merits. Alas, maps like the one the Post ran today, showing counties that Mark Warner carried but voted for John McCain, leaves me uneasy about how far we still need to go to ensure equal rights for men and women of all colors and creeds.

The election has passed, but now Barack Obama's work really begins. The electorate shouldn't tune out.

I just signed up for Obama emails and text messages at BarackObama.com. I really do expect that if he is able to finance it, his Administration will convert his direct-to-public Internet message machine into a permanent feature of his Administration. If he does, then it will be a good way to coordinate and organize support for his campaign of unity and specific initiatives.

If his Administration will pull off the transformational change to our government's culture that he speaks of, he will need support going forward. The election is the beginning point, not the end, of the real work. People should get involved and stay involved.

Biggest loser: Alaska. Not content with consecrating the wonderful Sarah Palin, it looks like Alaskans have just re-elected Senator Stevens, freshly convicted for corruption. Is it the cold or oil fumes that dull the brain?

- Common decency and positive campaigns: Negativity went nowhere this election despite attempts of Republicans to shower mud on Democrats with a fire hose.

- The American people who can put to rest the most horrifying 8 years we or the world have witnessed in quite some time

- Minorities who have finally seen that the American dream can encompass all

Losers:

- As mentioned above, Rovian politics. He and his ilk may rise from their slime at some point, but it was gratifying to see so many candidates (especially Dole) lose for attempting these divisive and dishonest tactics

- Any Bush for a generation to come. 41 and 43 will go down as the worst two presidents this country has ever elected, making their surname synonymous with gross incompetency

wpost4112, Tina Fey has repeatedly stated that she wanted to be done with Palin impersonations after today. However, she's a winner because Pookie (the Post's Lisa de Moraes) is reporting this morning that "30 Rock" has enjoyed a substantial boost in viewership since Fey began doing Palin. So if Fey can hang on to her new audience, I vote for Tina Fey as being a winner.

Thankfully anyone now campaigning under the "if you think I'm bad, wait till you hear about my opponent" banner. As long as there are political campaigns, mud will be thrown but the past few Republican campaigns have gone way over the line.

Democrats now know they can't be wimps if they want to win elections. The Demo's in the election got their message out and Republicans operated out of a pig sty most the time. It smells better when it's not that way, McCain's speech last night was a step in the right direction.

I'm glad Obama won. But I think the Bradley effect is still there. He polled at 7%, he won by 3%.

As for the GOP coming back, they hardly could have had a worse set of circumstances, and they lost by 3%. If they jettison the fringe elements -- the theocons and Palin types -- and return to the Reagan message, they can make that back. Even being saddled with the disgrace of the Bush years, more Americans describe themselves as conservative than liberal.

Hillary Clinton is a big loser. There's no 2012 for her, now. And 2016, she's too old -- McCain proved the public will only accept age up to a point, and 72 is beyond that point.

Here's the biggest loser: public financing of Presidential elections. Just like the Dems vowed to reverse the turnout campaign that saved Bush's second term, no way the GOP allows itself to be outspent -- on the air and on the ground -- again.

The biggest loser - the one that pervaded all the others - is Republican gutter politics, perfected by Rove and promoted by the likes of Limbaugh and FOX news. The lies, name-calling, and smears demonstrated by McCain and Palin were a turn-off to most Americans, and this reaction "trickled down" to state and local races all over the country. Here in Asheville, NC, we've seen the election of a Democratic governor; the resounding defeat of slime-machines Senator Elizabeth Dole (proponent of the infamous "godless" ad)and Representative Robin Hayes (who called Senator Obama anti-American); the replacement of our Republican County Commission Chair with a Democrat; and the choice of four Democrats over four Republicans running for County Commission.

Moderate Republicans, like Senator Susan Collins, may be considering a switch to the Democratic party until the GOP figures out how to stand for something besides catering to the rich and powerful while selling out American values.

"A winner and a loser has to be the Mainstream Media. Their candidate won, perhaps a bit from their general favorable coverage of Obama as much as their critical coverage of McCain omissions in covering Biden, but they lost further credibility with such lop-sided coverage. "

"excellent post.. from the Fix to abc "jounalists" were horrible."

Posted by: newagent99 | November 5, 2008 11:06 AM

They lost a lot of their audience. It's the older, more traditional people who buy subscriptions and depend on "old media" (mainstream media).

Also, it wouldn't surprise me if Obama morphs his campaign direct-to-you internet media machine into a permanent feature of his Administration's message and communications infrastructure. If he does that, he will have a powerful new leadership tool that allows him to communicate to the public without playing to media types and their sensationalism and lowbrow filter.

Obama, amazingly, delivered on his promise to redraw the electoral map. I expect him to be a very effective and innovative leader. Unfortunately for mainstream media, I think Obama's presidency means that they are going to continue to decline in relevancy.

IMO, There will be a shower of pink slips now that the election is over. Also, mergers and acquisitions.

-The OPEC oil price oligopoly-because Obama's energy policy will not be aggressive enough to offset oil dependence and declining domestic production, unless something changes. Drill baby drill was an attempt to remedy a strategic defense issue.
-Zbig Brezinski because the notion of diplomacy as process rather than preset objectives will become a tenet of the State Dept.
-Special forces and covert operations - because a withdrawal from the main field of battle will not mean a withdrawal from the war: Any first term president cannot afford to either lose a war or appear weak on national security
-Chickens in California- California enacted new standards for humane farming
-Municipal bonds and construction firms

Losers:
-Baseball players and other highly paid athletes-maybe the Republican party can get endorsements from the next All Star games
-The notion of Public Finance of Elections - dead as a doornail with the success of internet fundraising
-Mr. Scalia - he's going to be very unhappy on the Supreme Court with Hillary Clinton and two other democrat appointments

"A winner and a loser has to be the Mainstream Media. Their candidate won, perhaps a bit from their general favorable coverage of Obama as much as their critical coverage of McCain omissions in covering Biden, but they lost further credibility with such lop-sided coverage. "

"Man you all are shortsighted, Biggest winners, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. A dem pres and dem Congress. They will have a field day. And sorry Karl Rove will rise again. Please many dems would love to have Karl ROve working for them! The best political mind of our time!"

Posted by: omarthetentmaker | November 5, 2008 10:47 AM

You might be right, but only if Obama fails in his agenda of leadership, uniting previously divided factions in the government and bungles the problem solving he has to do.

Obama will be fighting the in-fighters and divisive, dysfunctional partisans in the political landscape now, who are Democrats and Republicans alike. In order to have the ability to make the right moves in difficult times, you need to disarm the dysfunctional partisan hacks that will continue their self-defeating, sabotaging behavior as the country teeters through the problems we face. If he can pull that off, he will have the political means by which to make constructive decisions and implement good federal policies.

All the people you named, especially Karl Rove, might be influential or brilliant in their particular ways, but they represent the corrosive dysfunctional political voices and schemers. They will win only if Obama fails to unite and lead the country well through the landmine-ridden field of problem-solving that the next president faces.

Not only does Obama deserve a chance to succeed, but it is in the best interest of us all to support him and help him succeed. (That would be true no matter which candidate won the election -- the next president faces a really hard row to hoe).

A winner and a loser has to be the Mainstream Media. Their candidate won, perhaps a bit from their general favorable coverage of Obama as much as their critical coverage of McCain omissions in covering Biden, but they lost further credibility with such lop-sided coverage. Yes, Obama ran a superior campaign and McCain was always playing defense against a good campaign machine and press coverage that was never going to allow him to showcase his positives. But that does not excuse the exceeses and failures of their coverage. I would expect the MSM to be interested in a level playing field for all, but their coverage for a favored candidate against first Hillary and then McCain showed how powerful their control over the spigot of information. If Obama falls on his face, so will the Media for failing to fully vet their candidate. Dan Balz says today now Obama must show us how he plan to do everything he promised. That should have been disclosed and revealed through the campaign process. Instead of going after Joe the Plumber for doing the media's job, then going after him after he made their candidate look horrible, the MSM should have been asking those same questions. Having said all that, I think Hillary is one that has more to complain about, than McCain. But still, the MSM seemed to be shocked that they were so roundly booed at the Repub convention. Give NBC credit as they took the hint and saved a shred of its credibility by pulling Olbermann and Matthews from their coverage.

Right now the MSM is riding high as they affected this election as much as the famed Obama luck factor and the poor economy, and Obama should exchange high fives with them as much as his campaign team. But having bet their bank on a favored candidate, they have put the future of professional journalism on precarious footing. And but for 9/11, we would not even be having this conversation.

What a denouement for Palin & co. She seemed generally sad and embarrassed up on stage. I wonder how much steam she has left in her career.

Obama's whole "Audacity of Hope" "brand" really sealed the deal. This is a new kind of politics that is years in the making. You get the feeling that he really studied up, learned from Clinton's mistakes and so on.

Biggest Losers how about the Clintons.. Hillary will now never be President and Bill will become like Jimmy Carter... insignificant.. Also losers try Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.. hard to argue how racist this country is when we just elected a Black man...

"LOSER: JakeD and AsperGirl. Their message board "McCain Points" are now worth less than Confederate Script."

Posted by: hoos3014 | November 5, 2008 10:32 AM

I came to see that McCain had no real leadership to offer the country, after the Wall Street meltdown in late September. I did go out and vote for Obama, too.

It's divisive jackasses like you, though, that according to several experts now, represent Obama's biggest challenge. He's going to be fighting not Republicans, who don't have enough votes in Congress to oppose him, but those Democrats who won't let go of their divisive hacking, smacking and fighting.

It's people like you, who supported Obama out of hatred of Republicans, who are on his side and empowered, who represent the biggest risk to his campaign of unity and cohesion in the political community. You're the enemy, now.

I've got to agree all around, Chris. I'm an NYC Dem and I was riveted by McCain's Concession Speech. Man, was that good. It was classy and uniting.

Then I was riveted by Obama's Acceptance Speech. Ah, Hope. Now I get it. One for the ages.

And I will never forget Jesse Jackson's tears. The thoughts and emotions that he must have been feeling. "This is real. It's actually happening."

The Bradley Effect? I worried over that one, but as Election Day approached I worried less and less. Today, I am thrilled that this Effect was simply, er, ineffective.

And let me also congratulate my favorite Republican Senator, Susan Collins. A class act, she was never one of the Bush Republicans who sought to destroy the Democratic party.

The way that Obama will run things, we don't need 60 Dems in the Senate. He will be a president for all Americans. The Bushies proved that wielding too much power can be destructive to both the powerful and the powerless. (Remember the early 2000s?)

NeoCons soured things so badly that I thought we would need to elect Hillary Clinton because she knows how to fight that old fight. And Al Franken is still fighting the old fight. Because how many of us really believed that Obama could usher in a new attitude?

JEGrim comments are right on the money. Dean invented the internet presence and internet fund raising, but he lacked (any) oratorical skills and (any) charisma.
So, now we have President Obama, and hundreds of millions around the world cheer that he is Black.
President Obama is the loser. So much of his self promotion was cover for his personal deficiencies that now will be uncovered for all to see. No more Bush, Chaney, Rove, etc to hate and blame. He enjoyed the right timing for a welcoming public who was more than ready to "throw the bumbs out" and embrace his soaring eloquent calls for a socialist vision of hope and change. (I am not being sarcastic-- I think we need more regulation and more focus on our citizens.) But pity Obama when he and the left wing of the Democratic Party try to install "socialism" while being blamed for eight percent unemployment, more companies moving to Canada, Dubai, etc, bankrupt municipalities, inflation, etc. He may learn quickly about the Blue Dog Democrats who are growing in numbers after this election. Unfortunately now, he may flame out when he most must lead in one of the country's most trying times. With a bio of work and politics formed in single party Chicago politics where race, Chauvinism and sons, daughters and cousins govern and a year in the dysfunctional US Senate of 2006, he now must take a huge leap-- from someone who at 47 never leaped until he wanted to be President. His unique personna may morph to resemble the hopes and subsequent disappointments of the Marion Berrys, Harold Washingtons, Mbekis of South Africa and other Sub Saharan countries and Kwami Kilpatrick the hope of Detroit over the last five years who went to jail last week. For Obama who took twice as much money from Exxon Mobil and its execs than McCain while claiming Howard Dean's cleanliness, He may end up looking a lot more like Tammany than Roosevelt.

You forgot your favorite winner of the night -- The State of Virginia. Not only did Democrats win state-wide office handily, but returns in the north and blue counties in the south and around Richmond really made the difference. The Democratic party in Virginia deserves a tall cold one for their great performance this election season.

I have a couple of questions, moving forward... Who will replace Barack Obama as the Senator from Illinois? It will be interesting to see how democrats in my state duke it out over who will rise to the Senate. And (of course) who will replace Joe Biden? It is amazing to me that he managed to win his home Senate seat AND the vice presidency.

Finally, I have a last "winner" for you. When I was dropping my sons off at school this morning, there was a visible enthusiasm among the kids (kindergarten and second grade) about the election. There was a way that *all* of them were talking about the new President that was thrilling. One of my son's friends said to his teacher, "Does that mean *I* could be president?" She smiled and said yes. For African American children all over this country, for immigrants and children of immigrants, Barack Obama's win this year sends a strong statement about our future as a nation. After what I saw this morning, I am more hopeful than ever.

I am very happy that Obama won last night. I think John McCain gave a very eloquent speech last night. He was a trooper. My hope is now he can go back to being who he is. I think though for his followers this was a hard pill to swallow. I think Bush's unpopularity and him picking Sarah Palin was his demise. I think if he had Mitt Romney as his VP the picture may or may not have been different or it would of been a much closer race. But things happened for a reason. The GOP has had their turn for the last 8 yrs. Now it is the Democrats turn. I am glad in a way they did not get there 60 seat majority to avoid fillibusters. Maybe this will force them to work together to avoid them and hopefully they will not let the power they have go to their heads as the GOP did during their one party rule.
This is truly a wonderful and blessed day in America. There are many who thought this day would never come.
We need to give our President Elect Obama a chance when he gets into office. Cleaning up at Bush' and the mess created by the GOP is not going to be done overnight. It may take his entire 4 yrs to do so. It took Clinton that long. He is intelligent and possesses the decision making ability to do so and do what is right for our nation. God Bless our new President Elect Barack Obama and his family. May they have his protection and his guidance.
Congrats Senator Obama! I voted for you!

My father hates W but he was born in 1917 Mississippi and voted for McCain as did my friend's father, a jew from Poland and the reason is that both men are prejudiced against blacks.

2. McCain's victory speech

yes, it was good; but after the vicious and irrelevant charges he and the Republicans made during the campaign, and in the face of unprecedented change, how else could he attempt to redeem himself with the majority, which is the primary aim of all politicians?

Chris -- you forgot the man who is perhaps the biggest winner of all -- Justice John Paul Stevens --the poor man can FINALLY retire with the thanks of many grateful people who are indebted to him for holding onto his seat on the Supreme Court as long as he did.

You could have also written the DCCC as far as I'm concerned. With the massive financial advantage it had this year and the number of districts in which they were on offense the net total of pickups in the House is going to be disappointing to say the least.

The biggest winners are the Americans who finally banned together to oust the narrow minded conservatives who have been running our country far too long. It's time to reinforce the intent of the founding fathers to separate church from state.

LOSER: The "Fairness Doctrine". If 24-hour Hate-Talk radio gets the Republicans slaughtered like this, why would Democrats ever want to bottle that up? Let Hannity and Limbaugh spout their nonsense....sensible Americans are rejecting that trash at the ballot box.

LOSER: JakeD and AsperGirl. Their message board "McCain Points" are now worth less than Confederate Script.

Loser - all of us; choosing candidates for political office primarily based on look, youth, television presence, oratory skills and other intangible factors, ignoring the value of experience altogether is of great concern; it began with the Kennedy/Nixon campaign, has been increasingly a factor in the decades since, and will be even more critical to how parties choose candidates in the future;

Obama's appeal is fundamentally based on intangibles, as is Sarah Palin's. Great for winning elections. The society we've built that values superficial over substance is now complete. I hope that's what we really want.

Whoever wrote John McCain's gracious concession speech crafted poignant prose that hit all the right notes. But perhaps the most telling phrase happened at the very end, when McCain reverted to his defiant late-campaign declaration that "nothing is evitable here."

In the context of a pre-election clarion cry, the phrase works as an appeal to fight on, to believe that victory is still within reach.

But to repeat the pre-election mantra that "nothing is inevitable here" after an overwhelming electoral defeat, after the people have rendered their verdict... was McCain's choice of words yet another coded message in the manner of his disdainful debate reference to Obama as "The One"?

"Nothing is invitable here" -- was McCain signaling that Obama's ascendancy to the highest office in the land could yet be prevented by other, unspecified means?

Call me cynical, but that's the way his remark struck me. And I'm wondering how it was taken by extreme right-wing factions who might regard the comment as tacit approval to continue to oppose Obama's ascension to the presidency.

For all the joy among Obama's supporters, I wonder if some of them are naively assuming that those who vehemently oppose Obama will just accept the election results and fall in line. What if some of them reject the election results as somehow illegitimate, or in opposition to what they perceive as "God's will"? Could some interpret McCain's repetition of the "nothing is inevitable" cry as tacit approval for the pursuit of their goals by other means?

Did McCain innocently slip back into his pre-election stump rhetoric by force of habit? Or did he know exactly how some of his followers might interpret his final words... mitigating the politically correct verbiage that preceded it?

Did anyone else here take away that same impression? And if I'm wrong, what DID McCain mean with yet another declaration that "nothing is inevitable here"?

BUT WILL THE ELECTION EVEN MATTER? Not when government-supported extrajudicial "vigilante injustice" squads are "gang stalking" American citizens, making a mockery of the rule of law:

Inexperience may well have been among the least of the reasons Sarah Palin was a drag on the Republican ticket. During her VP campaign, she demonstrated herself to the nation to be ignorant, parochial, and a speaker in loaded code-words that too many of voters were able to recognize as either bigoted or McCarthyist (Joe, not Gene). Let's just hope she doesn't get a chance to name herself to Ted Stevens' Senatorial seat, should he pull out a narrow victory then step down in the next two years. However, I have the feeling that Alaska's First Dude harbors political ambitions far beyond his abilities, so is pushing his wife to fulfill them for him vicariously.

The biggest loser in my opinion is the Republican party. If Ms. Palin is the new face of the GOP, I for one will be looking for a new affiliation. She is the sole reason I did not support my party this election.

And for those of you who want ot list Sarah Palin as a "loser", think about this:

In 6 months she went from a nobody to a household name and national figure. So much of getting elected is being in the right place at the right time--Something that helped Obama as the timing was right for a change in parties at the top.

If the tides have turned in 4,8 or even 12 years from now and the timing favors Conservatives again, Palin may just be in the right place because of the exposure she gained. The main reason she was rejected was inexperience. She remains highly likeable, and down the road, she will have the experience that she was lacking this time.

The other loser is Gay Marriage. As a straight person, I never saw any reason why 2 people should be prevented from getting married if they loved each other, even if they have the same type of genitals. Sad on that front.

Thumbs way up for John McCain's speech. But a big, big loser was Ralph Nader for his "Uncle Tom" comment. Although I agree with the point he was making I thought, given the timing, that it was highly inappropriate. It did make for a somewhat amusing exchange between Nader and Sheppard Smith.

Well most of the people I voted for in MI won last night, with one glaring exception.

Unlike Walrus and Knucklehed, McRotter (MI-11) was reelected by plain dumb luck. If the DCCC had spent a tenth of what they had spent in the other two races creepazoid McRotter would have been driven from office.

Larkin, the Democrat, was a nobody who was able to force McRotter down to 50%. So much for a "Safe" seat. Well, McRotter can now perform for one last time, the role he is best suited for: a totally marginalized wingnut.

With this election, it marks the end of the GOP as we know it. Immediately, this party will remain fractured. In years to come, it will eventually become slightly more than an inconsequential party. This has been coming for years now. "Republicans" will be marginalized as an ultra-right neo-con, bigoted, religious-fanatic party.

Case in point: When the talk becomes of how Sarah Palin is the future of the party, well then it's time to cue the chirping crickets. Last one out, please turn off the lights. This party is over (pun intended).

However, from their ashes will rise another party (perhaps with the same name) that is more middle of the road with a mantra of fiscal conservatism and Libertarian values.

The good news is the neo-cons and religious fanatics that had major influence in the GOP will be pushed further to the fringe and will wield no real power (thank God).

We are all losers for no longer being graced with the presence of the handful of complete nutcases on The Fix. In four years, they'll move on to whatever replaces blogs and Facebook as popular Internet wasting time phenomena.

I'm afraid the biggest losers are unborn infants, who enjoy less protection in our country than many species of animals.

Catholics in particular heard from putative pro-lifers like Doug Kmiec, Father Thomas Reese, S.J., Cathy Kaveny and others who cajoled us that somehow a vote for the pro-abortion president-elect was a more authentic vote on behalf of the unborn. Count them among your winners last night, but they'll only "win" over the next four years if they step up and lead the fight to reduce abortions in the context of a presidential administration that would have them be entirely unrestricted.

50+ million abortions since the Roe v. Wade decision and another 4,000 a day tortured, terrorized and destroyed in the womb. That's a lot of losers.

cam8 writes
"Your comments about Bobby Jindal are very interesting. I heard a rumor last night that he's going to be in Iowa later this week. There's no other reason for him to be there than if he's considering a run in 2012."

Cam, that's no rumor - it was reported here, by The Fix, a week or two ago. Bobby J looks like he's ready to test the waters, or at least start reaching out beyond LA.

Other winners on the GOP side include primary competitors who were not chosen to run as VP and might return in 2012: Pawlenty, Romney & Huckabee.

Perhaps most overlooked winner on the GOP side: Newt Gingrich. Watch for him to start making moves towards taking over as party leader.

John McCain's consession speach quelled some fears of Obama's assassination. He has regained some of my respect. I sense he regrets stirring up the bottom feeders with Palin. That was scary! Way to to democrats!

Bobby jindal? get serious,,a guy that looks like the people we are at war with? Trig,track,truck, whatever mr sarahs name is looked like he wanted to kick old mccains rear off the stage last night,he was probably planning where to hang the moosehead in peggy hills office..they should all load up on the snow machine and head north with the plumber tied across the hood,,take a million wingnuts with

winner: Rahm Emanuel not only because he's up for chief of staff but by staying neutral in the primary he kept his paths open to both Barack and Hillary and surely played a critical role in the makeup that needed to happen and now in the transition.

winner: Duval Patrick, governor of MA.

winner: Tom Daschle

winner: David Brooks from the NY Times

winner: Gene Robinson from the Washington Post

loser: william kristol
loser: anyone who was on sarah palin's campaign staff
loser: rick davis
loser: Joe Lieberman. what will he be doing in the next congress? and what side of the aisle will he be sitting on?

Your comments about Bobby Jindal are very interesting. I heard a rumor last night that he's going to be in Iowa later this week. There's no other reason for him to be there than if he's considering a run in 2012.

But, if he's smart, he'll wait to see how effectively Obama governs. If the next four years are going well, he would do himself good to sit it out until 2016. Tough needle to thread, though, because he's term limited in Louisiana.

My only observation is that the Republican view that we are a center right nation is not correct. I believe that the majority of voters are fiscally conservative and socially progressive. In order to gain any relevance they have to move in this direction. They should stop harking back to Reagan and go back to the kind of moderate positions embodied by Eisenhower. I realize that this would require a major change of direction but the Rove model has been repudiated. Let the religious right have its own party and hope that a three way race would be to their advantage.

Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Franklin Graham and all the other social conservative preachers who spread hate and dissension during the Bush Administration. Already marginalized during the campaign, these guys will be totally out in the cold in the incoming administration.

John McCain's speech was good, but I think it was in part a lecture delivered to the Republican base. It became pretty clear after the conventions this Fall -- specifically, when the Wall Street meltdown struck in late September -- that it was McCain who was engaging in empty rhetoric and it was Obama who was selling real stuff. From my armchair, I see a Republican base that has been led off-track by too many years of ignorant, culturally divisive "leadership".

Although the Republican electorate made McCain the party nominee, the party rank-and-file and leaders didn't like him and didn't accept his leadership. They didn't listen to him, embrace his vision or follow his lead during the campaign season. Ultimately, the thrust of John McCain's campaign rhetoric was aimed at his base: he fulfilled Obama's characterization of him by having to sound like Bush to woo his base while stumping. Even though he selected a base-pleasing VP pick, McCain ended up never really won over his base and spent the Fall continuing to pitch messages that sounded more like Bush than himself, in a continued appeal to Republicans.

While John McCain's drift away from himself into Bush-Rove-themed campaign rhetoric can be seen as a failure of leadership on his part, because he was never able to get the base to follow him so he had to redefine himself as one of them to get their support, it is more than that a failure of the Republican base to grow and develop into a relevant frame of reference for this election year. The Republican platform, rhetoric, party rank-and-file and leaders, represent a stubborn, out of touch and wrongly divisive approach to politics. It is my view that while John McCain never won them over and he had to redefine himself as a Rovian, Bush-like candidate due to the diffidence of his base, it's a base that could not have been intelligently led to a victory this Fall. Indeed, it may take a many years in the wilderness for Republicans to find relevant messages and a meaningful platform again.

When John McCain's speech asked the listeners to unite and support a new government, I see this speech as being aimed at a Republican electorate. It is my feeling that John McCain was exhorting his base to come out of its spoiled, uncommunicative and biased sulk and practice community in government.

John McCain was right to urge the country to unite behind Barack Obama and support the new government. The next president has a lot of difficult, unprecedented problem-solving and repair work to do, in poor global conditions, that is almost overwhelming to consider. Attacking and partisan dysfunction would make that even more difficult. Even those Republicans who voted against Obama more than they were voting for McCain need to overcome their partisanship and support Barack Obama's leadership, for all of our good.

I hope that Obama's victory will serve to marginalize the crazy right-wing media--those who suggested Obama was a radical Christian, secret Muslim, terrorist-loving, Marxist, who will eliminate private property force women to have abortions (I heard something like this on my drive to work this morning).

Those who get their news exclusively from the Sean Hannitys of the world have to be wondering how this could have happened, especially after they tried to argue that McCain was staging a big comeback.

WINNER - HOWARD DEAN! The immeasurable conribution of DNC Chairman,Democracy for America founder, former Vermont Governor and 2003 primary phenom, Dr. Howard Dean can't be overstated. Howard Dean put the momentum in motion and his fifty state strategy set the stage for the triumph the United States celebrates this morning. Dean prevailed in this despite pernicious and persistent push back from the entrenched power interests in his own party.

The winner is America and how we are view by the world. One of the biggest propaganda tools used against America is we are a fraud. They just point to black people as the proof. It ended last night, we are now what we say we are, for the first time in our history. What happened last night can not be overstated.

John McCain's Concession Speech: It's no secret that the Arizona senator is not the best public speaker -- particularly before big crowds. But, McCain stepped up to the plate tonight in Arizona and delivered a masterpiece -- a gracious call for the country to unify behind Obama and a powerful affirmation of his belief in the grace and honor of public service. Stirring stuff that even those most hardened against McCain had to appreciate as a grand act by a man who has sacrificed much for the country.

--I was not hardened against McCain, but I was no supporter either. His speech was wonderful and he regained a significant amount of respect for himself with a thoughtful and real speech acknowledging Obama's rightful place as our next President.

It was the first time since 2000 that he seemed like himself and if he had carried himself that way for the past 8 years it very well could have been a different outcome. I hope he comes back to the Senate with a affirmation that Americans want the independent minded McCain who will work with whoever is carrying the ideas of the day regardless of party. I hope he's the first to reach out to the solidified Democratic Congress and leads the way for a civil discourse to get our nation back on track. If the Repubs try to play obstructionist from the start they'll get spanked in 2010 again and they'll be in the wilderness for a generation instead of just 10 years or so.

Palin looked like she was going to cry and I bet she'll put her foot in her mouth within a week about this election. And Alaska looks to have re-elected Stevens.......if they want to secede maybe we should let them. There's obviously some oil leaking into their water supply and it's putting large holes in the part of their brain where common sense is generated.

Please, please, please...I hope and pray that Bobby Jindal and others like him become the face of the Republican party and that this election repudiates the Sarah Palin / Karl Rove faction. As much as I wanted to support the GOP this year, there was simply no way that I could support a ticket with such a lack of vision and narrow-minded view of America.